


Awakening

by violet569



Series: Lifeline [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awakening, BAMF Noctis Lucis Caelum, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt Prompto Argentum, Imperials Above Us!, MT Prompto Argentum, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23651035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet569/pseuds/violet569
Summary: They were Magitek units that obeyed their handler's orders no matter the cost. All the units had but one mission: kill the Prince of Insomnia.At least, that was supposed to be the only mission.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Series: Lifeline [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717369
Comments: 12
Kudos: 225





	Awakening

Unit N-iP01357 stood stock still in the dropship. It was one of 15 Magitek units, 4 being Imperial Snipers—including it, that had been loaded up when a call had been received about the Lucian royals being spotted not ten minutes from their current housing. The order was instinantious, it and the units around it fell into marching order and walked into the awaiting dropship in formation. They were currently on their way to the coordinations listed, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. They were Magitek units that obeyed their handler's orders no matter the cost. All the units had but one mission: kill the Prince of Insomnia.

At least, that was supposed to be the only mission.

Unit N-iP01357 should have reported the malfunction in its system to its handler, but it did not. It did not know where the error in its code originated from, but… it wanted to keep it. The error made unit N-iP01357 different, and let it see the world a little differently.

See, that was the malfunction. It _wanted_ , which was not supposed to occur. It was a Magitek unit that obeyed its handler's orders no matter the cost. It was now also a Magitek unit that wanted to be more than just a tool, so it kept silent about its break in code.

The error, unit N-iP01357 decided, was designed to integrate new code. There were unusual lines of code that filtered into its system at a near constant rate ever since it appeared. The error must have also been designed to implement a primary code that would prevent the unit from reporting to its handler, therefore keeping the error and allowing it to implement other codes that would alter the unit. It did not know what the code's goal was to do, and it did not question. It was a Magitek unit that obeyed its handler's orders no matter the cost. It did not ask questions.

The dropship shuttered and lurched, but it and the rest of the Magitek units kept their balance. Warning lights flashed, and they did an about face as the hatch in the back opened. Wind whipped around the interior, and with the ground 23 feet below, it knew it was time to deploy. It had keener hearing than most, and the shout of "Imperials above us!" was almost lost in the noise kicked up by the dropship's engines, but it heard it. They had found their targets.

It was in the back and one of the last to jump off, but as it jumped out, it saw the sky turning a vibrant orange as the sun was setting, and couldn't help but want to permanently catalog the sight. The sight vanished as it hit the ground beneath the thick treetops.

The Magitek units were instantly fighting. It and the other three Imperial Snipers backed up to get a better shot, and not a moment too soon. There was a hum of energy in the air, and nearly all of the infantry units in front of it were struck by lightning, scorching the ground black. They didn't immediately shut down due to being more advanced models, but their movements were jerky and in swift need of recalibration. Then the three royals were engaging them. The Shield's greatsword cleaved into a unit, the Advisor following up by jamming a dagger into the unit's neck and wrenching its head off its shoulders. It was surprisingly clean, and unit N-iP01357 would have already taken a shot at them if they were its target.

The Prince appeared in a brilliant flash of light—warping, it believed that was called— directly on top of one of the Imperial Snipers to its left. Unit N-iP01357 quickly backed up, only to watch the Prince rip his sword out of the other unit's broken core. It was swift and messy, but brutally efficient. The Prince turned and began tearing through another Imperial Sniper unit, plunging his sword straight through the top of its head from another warp. The Prince jumped off the unit to avoid a shot from the Imperial Sniper across from it, and unit N-iP01357 took aim. There would be no better chance. It easily predicted the arc the Prince would take and could easily take him out, win the war for Niflheim _right now_. It was a Magitek unit that obeyed its handler's orders no matter the cost.

But something about that notion settled wrongly in its core, and it hesitated.

The moment was gone, and the Prince warped away to his Shield to strike down a bulkier unit together. Unit N-iP01357 couldn't get a clear shot after that due to the Prince's movement, but the last Imperial Sniper besides it didn't have the same friendly-fire reservations, and took an unclean shot. Unit N-iP01357 both heard and felt the other Imperial Sniper's bullet tear through its chassis, screeching through it and burrowing into the flesh underneath, cutting off the connection it had to its left arm. The bullet had been lodged dangerously close to its core, and it felt… _something_ rush through its system, something more than the pain burning its shoulder.

Unit N-iP01357 raised its gun with one arm, took a fraction of a second to aim, and fired.

The Imperial Sniper's head exploded out the back from the unit's bullet and it crumpled to the ground in a heap. It would disintegrate shortly per its programming. Unit N-iP01357 lowered its gun and turned back to the fight just as the Prince finished off the last of the infantry units. Its core fluctuated uneasily when three pairs of eyes locked into it.

The Prince flew at it like the lightning he wielded—not warping, it didn't know if it could survive if the Prince warped—and swung at the unit. Copying a move it'd seen the Prince himself do while battling, it took a step back and rolled to avoid the strike. The Prince's eyes widened and he quickly swung a few more times in obviously well practiced moves, but it evaded them all with the same moves it'd picked up watching the three humans fight.

The Prince jumped back, face openly astonished and unit N-iP01357 took the moment to gain distance. Its programing was practically screaming at it to raise its weapon and fire. Kill the Prince of Insomnia. Kill the Prince of Insomnia. _Kill the Prince of Insomnia_. Its left arm hung limply at its side, but it caught its right arm mid-motion, jerking to comply. It was a Magitek unit that obeyed its handler's orders. Its programming was to follow its handler's orders because it was a Magitek unit that complied.

But it didn't want to.

The Advisor and Shield were still rigid, waiting for unit N-iP01357 to lift its gun and fire. To them it would look like the unit was a more advanced one than the rest they'd destroyed, and therefore had to be more cautious. The Prince, apparently, didn't have the same feelings on the matter, and his stance eased, tension slowly draining from his body. He slowly walked towards it, weapon vanishing in a similar light as the warping light and it immediately shifted back to avoid collision, but nothing happened. The Prince was now without a weapon, and still walking closer to it.

Twin shouts of panic erupted from the Prince's retainers but the Prince called out to them "I'm fine!" without taking his eyes off unit N-iP01357, still coming towards it. It was pretty sure that wasn't the point of why the retainers were concerned, he was walking unarmed towards an armed enemy after all, and it was suddenly clear to the unit why the Prince had needed retainers from such a young age.

The Prince took another step towards it, half confident, half wary. "You're not going to shoot me, are you?" He asked almost curiously. As if to prove him wrong, its system kicked into automatic and its right arm whipped up to take aim. The retainers who'd been making their way to the Prince stopped entirely. The Prince froze, hands flying above his shoulders with his palms facing towards the unit in the universal sign of 'Don't shoot!' as if that would stop an Imperial Sniper. Ordinary, it never would. Most units didn't have an error, however.

Unit N-iP01357 struggled against the order, arm shaking from the strain. It was a Magitek unit that obeyed its handle's orders. It _needed_ to—

Something clicked.

It was a Magitek unit.

It was a Magitek unit, but it would not obey its handler's orders because _it did not want to_.

The code to obey was deleted from his system, eliminated by the code the error had implemented.

That one innocuous piece of code from the error all boiled down to 'What can I learn?' And had promptly evolved into 'What do I want?'

And it didn't want to kill the Prince.

Unit N-iP01357 shuddered violently and dropped its gun. It had just _deleted_ its prime directive from its coding. The reason its system was even _functioning_ in the first place, and it'd deleted it just like that. Its knees hit the ground as if its frame couldn't support its weight anymore and the unit hunched in on itself. What—

_What had it just done?_

Its core thrummed painfully, another something different from the last flooded through its system. Its vision darkened along the edges because it was shutting down, it had to be because its primary function was gone and it didn't know what to do without it— It wasn't _supposed_ to do anything without it and now it could do anything but couldn't do anything—

Hands landed on its shoulders and a voice said, " _Breath_. Follow my lead."

It shuddered out a breath, stuttering over the next few before it could focus on its hearing enough to listen to the other's breaths. Slowly, it tried to match it. By the time it'd accomplished it, its vision had returned to normal and it could think clearer. It lifted its head and the Prince was gently smiling down at him, both hands still on its shoulders. Even though it was separated by armor, it could feel the warmth of the Prince through to its skin underneath. The unit almost felt comfortable.

"Noctis!" Two voices shouted close enough that it instinctively flinched back, dislodging the Prince and scrambling back for a weapon that was no longer there.

The two retainers had caught up and were standing protectively in front of the Prince, ready to move at a moment's notice, but the Prince shouted, "Wait!" They paused, but were no less menacing to it. Unit N-iP01357 was damaged and without a weapon. It would lose no matter what form this fight took. "Don't hurt it."

The retainers both turned back to send him dual looks of disbelief and incredulity, at least that's what it thought it was, and it honestly agreed. What was the Prince doing helping— No, saving an enemy?

"It's not attacking, see?" The Prince said, gesturing to it as if a prone Magitek unit would be threatening. He pushed between his two retainers to stand mere feet from the grounded unit. "It had the chance to attack me multiple times, and didn't. It even took out an Imperial Sniper, one of its own." It had to admit, that was a better basis for his actions than before, but still not a good one.

The Prince's retainers obviously shared its sentiments, because they didn't put away their weapons, but they lowered them. The Shield frowned down at the unit. "What are you going to do then, Princess?" Wait _what_ , _princess—?_

"Well we can't just leave it here. It's damaged." The Advisor looked pointedly at the Prince, his eyes saying 'Yes you can just leave it here' but the Prince either didn't see it or ignored it, because he walked up directly to the unit, smiling almost smugly, like he'd just won a prize and held out his hand. "You're not going to hurt me, are you."

Unit N-iP01357 hesitated. The Prince was it's prime objective, if it could just— No. The Prince was no longer its prime objective.

The unit shook its head from side to side slowly, unused to the motion, and took the Prince's hand. His smile brightened, and he held on even after it was pulled to its feet, and it found it didn't mind one bit.

And maybe, just maybe, it was alright to feel this way.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally tried FFXV on for size. Think it turned out decently. If people like it enough I may write more, who knows at this point, really.


End file.
